Launch Day

We're heading up to Stuart to launch the boat and bring her down to Fort Lauderdale.

Our F150 was loaded! we took the Dink & Outboard, Cooler for Food and Drinks, bedding, linens, Navigation materials, charts, Electronics (Tablet, VHF hand held, Hand held GPS, SPOT) and the list goes on. There was barely any room in the truck bed or the rear passenger compartment. I think there's a kitchen sink in there somewhere.

Upon arrival at Port Salerno Marine, we stopped to look at the boat, it's the first time Peggy has seen it out of the water, it's Sooooo much bigger than JD our Catalina 250 (up for sale) and the yard has done a great job on the hull. Time to check into the hotel for the night and get some dinner. So far today I have worked until midday, then we loaded the truck, drove Peggy's car and the truck to the Dock home in Fort Lauderdale, and finally headed up to Stuart - we're beat!

Bright and early Friday, we headed to the Grill for breakfast (and to recover my Cap that I left behind on Tuesday) then down to the boat to see how the final progress was going.

We had to haul all of our gear up from the truck up to the boat deck. The crew helped, but it was a hot day. They were finishing off the new Cutlass Bearing, polishing and Zinc Painting the Prop, shifting the boat stands so that they could finish the bottom paint. The hull was looking Good!

As noon approached, I asked Jack, the owner of Port Salerno Marine, what time he expected to be able to launch, and his response was 'Probably after lunch when it's high tide' So Peggy & I headed off for lunch and a quick trip to West Marine for a few last minute things. VHF remote mic, 2015 Waterway Guide, and a gallon of Engine Oil (little did I know that Deke had left half a gallon bottle of fresh oil in a cabin locker.)

By the time we got back to the yard, the boat was in slings and they were waiting for High Tide.

After the yard crew lowered the boat into the water, I went aboard and checked for leaks! We had put in a new shut off valve on the Sink drain line and a plug in the none working fish finder thru hull transducer. Just wanted to make sure we were ok.

Now it's time to head home down the ditch. About 90 miles. Here goes!

See you in Fort Lauderdale.